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Walled: Israeli Society at an Impasse
An award-winning journalist explores the culture of denial in Israeli and Palestinian societies–and its lethal consequences.
Walled examines the contemporary state of mind of Israel's citizens, tracing the history of the State of Israel back to the Jewish national movement and the beginnings of Zionism. Sylvain Cypel offers a lucid analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian situation and powerfully demonstrates that the wall of protection erected in the West Bank by Israel is the most visible symptom of a society in peril.
Those who are walled, Cypel argues, are first and foremost the Israelis themselves, who have chosen to ignore rather than acknowledge the existence and rights of their neighbors. Through the study of political discourse, intellectual controversy, and national institutions such as the army and the educational system, Cypel illuminates the mechanics of the culture of force that has led Israeli society into its current impasse. Walled combines historical, cultural, and sociological analysis with personal testimonies and a delightful Jewish wit, offering a cogent and gripping portrait of two peoples walled by Israeli society and its "other," the Palestinians.
Walled examines the contemporary state of mind of Israel's citizens, tracing the history of the State of Israel back to the Jewish national movement and the beginnings of Zionism. Sylvain Cypel offers a lucid analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian situation and powerfully demonstrates that the wall of protection erected in the West Bank by Israel is the most visible symptom of a society in peril.
Those who are walled, Cypel argues, are first and foremost the Israelis themselves, who have chosen to ignore rather than acknowledge the existence and rights of their neighbors. Through the study of political discourse, intellectual controversy, and national institutions such as the army and the educational system, Cypel illuminates the mechanics of the culture of force that has led Israeli society into its current impasse. Walled combines historical, cultural, and sociological analysis with personal testimonies and a delightful Jewish wit, offering a cogent and gripping portrait of two peoples walled by Israeli society and its "other," the Palestinians.
534 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 30, 2012
Israel is imperiled. So argues the French Jewish writer of this heavily researched analysis of Israel's current social and political status. The peril he identifies is within, based on a denial of its responsibility for displacement of Palestinian populations in 1948 and 1967 and the evidence that exists of systematic ethnic cleansing. Not all blame is laid at the feet of Israel; the author points to failures of political leadership, especially in the case of Arafat, that have subverted nearly every effort of the Palestinians to deal effectively with Israel.
Much of the author's argument is devoted to analysis of myths and realties on both sides of the conflict, which have led to continued failures to reach accommodation and to undermine every "peace effort." Though a substantial military power, with the backing of the US, the author argues, Israel continues to embrace a myth of itself as innocent victim, thus perpetuating its attempts to demonize the Palestinians and dominate them by force. More problematic has been the colonization of the West Bank with Jewish settlers, themselves supported by an ultranationalist myth - a kind of Manifest Destiny - a belief in the God-given right to reclaim and inhabit the entire land of biblical Israel. Meanwhile, true democracy within Israel has been compromised by the ultrareligious and the military, weakening the strength of a secular government that grants equal rights to all, including the country's minority of Palestinian citizens.
Finally, the author argues, Israel is nearing a point of moral bankruptcy, its occupation of the West Bank and its attempts to crush Palestinian resistance seen as ethically unjustifiable. With the building of the Wall and the fragmentation of the Palestinian populations into enclaves, the comparison to apartheid-era South Africa become more pronounced. Continuing on its present course can only lead to defeat, as the resistance of the Palestinians has shown that a final victory is not possible.
Pro-Israeli readers may well object to the viewpoint of this book. However, it is an argument that, regardless of one's sympathies, needs a hearing.
Much of the author's argument is devoted to analysis of myths and realties on both sides of the conflict, which have led to continued failures to reach accommodation and to undermine every "peace effort." Though a substantial military power, with the backing of the US, the author argues, Israel continues to embrace a myth of itself as innocent victim, thus perpetuating its attempts to demonize the Palestinians and dominate them by force. More problematic has been the colonization of the West Bank with Jewish settlers, themselves supported by an ultranationalist myth - a kind of Manifest Destiny - a belief in the God-given right to reclaim and inhabit the entire land of biblical Israel. Meanwhile, true democracy within Israel has been compromised by the ultrareligious and the military, weakening the strength of a secular government that grants equal rights to all, including the country's minority of Palestinian citizens.
Finally, the author argues, Israel is nearing a point of moral bankruptcy, its occupation of the West Bank and its attempts to crush Palestinian resistance seen as ethically unjustifiable. With the building of the Wall and the fragmentation of the Palestinian populations into enclaves, the comparison to apartheid-era South Africa become more pronounced. Continuing on its present course can only lead to defeat, as the resistance of the Palestinians has shown that a final victory is not possible.
Pro-Israeli readers may well object to the viewpoint of this book. However, it is an argument that, regardless of one's sympathies, needs a hearing.
March 9, 2024
". . . In 1968, in the kibbutz where I lived, my friend Michael, who was also French and had recently arrived, came back one evening in a state of shock. For some time he had been wondering what a fragment of tower was doing in the middle of the field where he worked. He had thought it might be a dried-up well, but the ruin seemed to be too high to have been the rim of a well. That day he had asked a kibbutznik who was working alongside him. 'That's not a tower, it's a minaret,' the latter replied abruptly. What was this minaret doing in a field? 'It's all that's left of the mosque.' But why the hell a mosque in the middle of a field? 'You dumb or something? There wasn't just a mosque here, there was a whole village.' All Michael could see in front of him were long furrows and irrigation hoses. What happened to the village? 'It was razed, like all the other Arab villages around here. Boy, you sure are clueless!' Yes, Michael was clueless."
So author Sylvain Cypel, veteran French journalist and former editor of "Le Monde," recounts his personal confrontation on page 161 with the physical erasure and willful amnesia of Israel's past. That this knowing ignorance laid the groundwork for the present debacle in Gaza should thus come as no surprise.
Though available in English for 18 years, Cypel's study of Israel's legacy and present consciousness is more relevant than when written and worthy of reissue. What was begun in 1947 seems on the verge of final resolution, per the words of one IDFer to a Palestinian on page 129: "You know, I know how this will all end. We Israelis are a crazy, suicidal people. We're going to squash you, annihilate you. And then the Arab world will annihilate us. And nothing will be left either of you or us."
To Cypel this mentality arises from the negation of both sides, in the belief that the old pre-Israel order can be restored, and in the pretense that the Palestinians do not exist as a concrete people or at all. In his historical overview, Cypel faults Arab leaders for not understanding that Zionism was not imperialist colonialism per se, but the foundation of a new nation with its own legitimizing structures, much like the future USA within the British empire. But he also quotes Zionism's founding fathers as full of the same blind bigotry and racism that is fueling the current massacre at the time of typing.
And yet there were points of contact between Arab and Jew within Israel, and Israelis and Palestinians under occupation. The ghettoization of both sides in what became an apartheid society has led to such rupture that these contacts no longer exist. Mental barriers are now as much the norm as those twenty-foot barricades across the landscape. And those with the least knowledge of the other are the same who "know" how evil those others are and must be met only with force as it's all "they" understand. One wall has produced another, waiting for the first opportunity to breach both because they were impossible to maintain. The result was 10/07/24, the forces of murder and mayhem on both sides gleefully destroying what was erected to contain them.
The devolution of Israel into a tribal war state per the Book of Joshua led noted academic and journalist Tom Segev to remark (quoted on page 404): "The idea that this could end in a new expulsion of the Palestinians terrifies me. As an Israeli this would be my red line, the point in time when I'd stop identifying with the state." It's not known as of this writing if Segev has kept faith with that promise. But Cypel's book is an eye-opening window to what has now been let into the house and promises to bring down walls and roof alike.
So author Sylvain Cypel, veteran French journalist and former editor of "Le Monde," recounts his personal confrontation on page 161 with the physical erasure and willful amnesia of Israel's past. That this knowing ignorance laid the groundwork for the present debacle in Gaza should thus come as no surprise.
Though available in English for 18 years, Cypel's study of Israel's legacy and present consciousness is more relevant than when written and worthy of reissue. What was begun in 1947 seems on the verge of final resolution, per the words of one IDFer to a Palestinian on page 129: "You know, I know how this will all end. We Israelis are a crazy, suicidal people. We're going to squash you, annihilate you. And then the Arab world will annihilate us. And nothing will be left either of you or us."
To Cypel this mentality arises from the negation of both sides, in the belief that the old pre-Israel order can be restored, and in the pretense that the Palestinians do not exist as a concrete people or at all. In his historical overview, Cypel faults Arab leaders for not understanding that Zionism was not imperialist colonialism per se, but the foundation of a new nation with its own legitimizing structures, much like the future USA within the British empire. But he also quotes Zionism's founding fathers as full of the same blind bigotry and racism that is fueling the current massacre at the time of typing.
And yet there were points of contact between Arab and Jew within Israel, and Israelis and Palestinians under occupation. The ghettoization of both sides in what became an apartheid society has led to such rupture that these contacts no longer exist. Mental barriers are now as much the norm as those twenty-foot barricades across the landscape. And those with the least knowledge of the other are the same who "know" how evil those others are and must be met only with force as it's all "they" understand. One wall has produced another, waiting for the first opportunity to breach both because they were impossible to maintain. The result was 10/07/24, the forces of murder and mayhem on both sides gleefully destroying what was erected to contain them.
The devolution of Israel into a tribal war state per the Book of Joshua led noted academic and journalist Tom Segev to remark (quoted on page 404): "The idea that this could end in a new expulsion of the Palestinians terrifies me. As an Israeli this would be my red line, the point in time when I'd stop identifying with the state." It's not known as of this writing if Segev has kept faith with that promise. But Cypel's book is an eye-opening window to what has now been let into the house and promises to bring down walls and roof alike.
October 6, 2024
Lecture d'utilité publique et nécessaire à une certaine hygiène mentale.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews